How to access subsidized housing for seniors

New long-term care home to open in Scarborough in 2026

By Michelle Chermaine Ramos
LJI Reporter
The Philippine Reporter

On June 14, 2022, Toronto Mayor John Tory along with Scarborough North Councillor Cynthia Lai and Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson of Scarborough Centre, announced the building of a new City of Toronto long-term care (LTC) home to be opened in Scarborough in 2026.

It will be located at 4610 Finch Ave E. to meet new provincial design standards for LTC homes and is set to house 336 to 365 residents to help reduce the wait times and help alleviate the housing crisis particularly faced by seniors. LTC homes are specially designed for seniors who need access to professional care and supervision 24/7 due to cognitive impairment and significant health challenges.

Toronto has committed $175 million towards the Long-Term Care Homes and Services Capital Renewal Plan while relying on partnerships with other levels of government for support. Bendale Acres LTC home in Scarborough will also receive $1.5 million in Behavioural Specialized Unit pilot funding to address the needs of residents with heightened responsive behaviours that cannot be safely and effectively managed in other LTC homes. This funding is allotted to provide accommodation, care, services, programs and goods.

Toronto has five LTC homes set for redevelopment namely Carefree Lodge, Castleview Wychwood Towers, Fudger House, Lakeshore Lodge and Seven Oaks. Plans include upgrading 1,232 existing beds and adding 978 new beds.

Acquiring even regular non-LTC affordable rental housing for seniors and other Canadians in general has been a long-time challenge due to the shortage of housing units in proportion to the population. We spoke with Fernando Chavez, a Housing Counsellor at The Housing Help Centre (https://www.shhc.ca) at their head office in Scarborough. He explained the challenges Filipino seniors face in finding affordable housing and his advice for those seeking subsidized housing. Their organization has other offices in Markham, Thornhill, Georgina, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Newmarket.

The number of Filipino seniors needing subsidized housing has grown

Chavez generally handles Filipino cases and he estimates that around 10% of his clients are Filipinos which includes seniors, families, students and permanent residents. In 2019, he used to get less than 50 Filipino clients in a year. On the brighter side, more Filipinos are accessing these services because they are now aware of their existence. He suspects the information campaigns have helped raise awareness on top of the economy and COVID impacting people’s situations.

Unfortunately, this also reflects the situations of many more Filipinos becoming dire. Now, he says that he encounters 100-200 Filipino seniors a year. That only includes those who are looking for housing. To put it in a larger context, he says that it is still a very small fraction of the number of Filipino clients they are helping in their office.

Some clients may not necessarily need to move out, but might need financial help to offset living costs, like accessing the electricity subsidy, furniture bank, clothing and food bank. “Most of the time, they really need to change housing if the cost becomes high, or the circumstances of the landlord have changed, or there’s a strained relationship with the landlord. If they disclose that information, then we try to find housing regardless of their income. As long as they need housing, income is not really a question. But most of the time, that has always been an issue. If there are other circumstances that led them to find different housing, then they can just come to the office and of course we can serve them,” Chavez said.

Renters are at greater risk of being homeless

Renters are always at a risk of losing their home if they cannot afford the increase in rent or if there’s a change in the landlord’s circumstances that will make the unit unavailable. Seniors are also at risk of competing with younger renters with higher incomes. “For Filipinos, most of their income comes from pensions and a very small fraction of them still works so it’s hard to budget the small CPP they get for rent,” Chavez explained. “A one-bedroom apartment right now costs at least $1,350 and then that includes other utilities as well that seniors need and medical expenses and other necessities. The costs are getting larger and if the CPP doesn’t catch up to those costs, their ability to afford rent decreases.”

Counsellors with The Housing Help Centre can act as landlord matchmakers or mediators

Aside from helping clients find and apply for affordable housing in Toronto and neighboring areas, Chavez says they also negotiate with landlords. “We contact landlords who have some availability and try to negotiate with them, like lowering the cost of rent or accommodating clients that have some challenges, like disability or financial, like if they cannot provide first and last month [rent], or their credit rating is low. Sometimes if the client will be evicted, we also talk to the landlord, provide some services with them if the client can stay a little bit more when he is looking for something that’s more affordable and among those things,” he explained.

The sooner you apply (even if you’re not a senior yet) the better

In an information session delivered at the Filipino Centre back in 2019, Chavez reported that the average wait times for unitswas ten years, and that’s on a first come first served basis. Now, for seniors, he says that generally the wait time is around six to seven years for a one-bedroom unit and can be a little bit shorter for a bachelor.

If you suspect that you might need housing assistance upon reaching your senior years, you are strongly urged to apply as soon as you can, ideally 15 years before you expect to retire. You must at least be a permanent resident, refugee claimant or Canadian citizen to qualify for subsidized housing. You don’t need to meet any financial qualifications to apply right now as that will be determined later when you are offered a unit.

What determines the Rent-Geared-to-Income Subsidy

“When you receive an offer for housing, they will ask you for some documentation, like income tax, your notice of assessment that will determine your income. Not only the head of the family, but everybody in the family will submit proof of their income. The total income of the family will determine how much of that will be their subsidy,” Chavez explained. With the Rent-Geared-to-Income subsidy, rent is 30% of a household’s income. If a senior is going to be living alone, or in the case of a senior couple, their income will be lower so the benefit will be higher for them. They are required to submit proof of their income every year and that will determine their subsidy for each year.

The new Choice-based Housing Offer Process

Toronto has implemented a new Choice-based Housing Offer Process to access Rent-Geared-to-Income that is by invitation if you have a priority status or have applied on or before December 31, 2015. You will be able to choose units of interest by seeing detailed information about available units including photos, move-in dates and accessibility features and sign up to receive e-mail notifications of new information.

At the end of each two-week cycle, the applicant closest to the top of the waiting list who expresses interest in an available unit will receive a housing offer. For more information about the details and process, go to https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/employment-social-support/housing-support/rent-geared-to-income-subsidy/choice-based-housing-offer-process/

There is no way to expedite the process except for the following circumstances

“The only way in which a senior or any person can be prioritized is if they are a victim of domestic violence or human trafficking or have a terminal illness. Those are the only circumstances that are given special priority. Another special subcategory are the ones who are homeless for more than one year. Now it’s six months to one year, then they’re given a sort of special priority for housing. But aside from that, unfortunately, there are no other methods in which an applicant is expedited. Unfortunately, there’s no special consideration even if you are a senior or have a disability,” Chavez explained.

He urges the community to share this information to let people know that there are services that seniors and soon-to-be-seniors can benefit from including those they can access right now such as the electricity subsidy among others.

“If they know somebody who they think would benefit, reach out to me. Reach out to any housing worker to discuss their housing circumstance if we can provide other services to them. I want a lot of Filipinos to be aware so they will not end up homeless or risk being homeless, because if they start the application for subsidized housing when they are already seniors, and I cannot say it’s too late, but the wait time can be very frustrating,” he said.
The Housing Help Centre’s head office is located at 205-2500 Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough, ON. Phone: 416-285-8070

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How to access subsidized housing for seniors

How to access subsidized housing for seniors

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